2019-20 Finish: 33-49

 

Season Highlight:

The Thunder had a fairly bleak year all round but they finished strong on the trade front and setting up for the future. They already had a relatively strong, young list, but they really booted up for next year and beyond with deals down the stretch. Buddy Hield and Devonte Graham in for Middleton. LMA is now there, for basically free. They got in 3 picks in the top 10 and they really did bolster the roster through trade and development. Now to nail free agency and they�ll be primed for years.

 

Season Lowlight:

The Thunder had a roster that probably should have made the playoffs. Lead by Khris Middleton, DeAaron Fox, Gordon Hayward and Lauri Markkanen, they had Markkanen go down again, and the season slowly dropped away. The talent was there, but the match wasn�t. They started making some moves to right the ship but it was too little too late.

Best Trade:

Thunder sends: Romeo Langford, Taj Gibson, Dewayne Dedmon and 2021 2^nd Round Pick
Thunder gets: LaMarcus Aldridge

LMA is getting on in age, but is he really worth this little? No. He�s a starting calibre big man still and they got him for 2 salary dumps, that you�d usually need to pay to remove, and Romeo Langford who hasn�t shown anything. Deals!

Worst Trade:

Ok I looked through all of the OKC deals done last year and there really is not one trade they lost. You can�t pick a trade as �Worst� when they didn�t even lose a deal. Take a look at the list below!

 

Other Notable Trades:

Thunder send: Ignas Brazdeikis
Thunder get: 2021 2^nd round pick

Ignas is a long shot to be anything, and you turn him for an asset.

 

Thunder send: Khris Middleton, Michael Carter-Williams, Garrett Temple, Mario Hezonja and Caleb Swanigan
Thunder get: Buddy Hield, Devonte Graham, Larry Nance Jr, Dewayne Dedmon, 2021 2^nd round pick and 2022 2^nd round pick

Way to turn a semi star into a whole lot of good!

 

Thunder send: Tyus Jones
Thunder get: Dwayne Bacon and 2021 2^nd round pick

Somehow, they got a young guy and a pick for a salary dump?

 

Thunder send: Cam Reddish and 2021 protected 1^st round pick
Thunder get: 2020 Pick 4

Pick 4 gets them a good kid right now, the future pick is likely out of the lottery and Reddish hasn�t shown much yet.

 

Thunder send: DeAaron Fox and 2023 1^st round pick
Thunder get: Caris LeVert, 2020 Pick 1 and 2022 2^nd round pick

Pick 1! For Fox! And they got LeVert?

 

Thunder send: Buddy Hield and Larry Nance Jr
Thunder get: Julius Randle and Shake Milton

Milton = Hield�Randle > Nance?

 

 

Free Agency:

The Thunder have some big money coming off the books and that bodes even better for them. The cap holds are big�the new deals aren�t so bad. Hayward is a sign and trade unfortunately but at least the Thunder will have some guys coming back for him.

Gordon Hayward � UFA, sign and trade. He�s out the door, but it will be for some return.

Tristan Thompson � UFA, going to be tough to see him returning.

Jeff Teague � UFA, nice cheap new deal but will he want to stay?

Dwayne Bacon � RFA, he will be back.

 

 

Star:

LaMarcus Aldridge

Despite not yet paying a game for the team, LMA is the teams star for now for sure. They have 3 star rookies coming in, that also haven�t yet played. And they have LeVert and Graham who are both set for jumps too, but LMA is the man here as the veteran leader. He�s been a star for years now and he�s possibly playing out his final contract showing the kids the way.

 

Goat:

Gordon Hayward

Hayward gets the GOAT here because he�s finally fit and has a largely healthy season, it was a bounce back year of lower numbers. The Thunder struggled with him though but endured, only to have him opt out of his player deal and demand a sign and trade out of the place. Way to support the team, Gordon.

 

Draft Grades:

Pick 1 - Anthony Edwards
Pick 4 - Onyeka Okongwu
Pick 9 - Isaac Okoro
Pick 38 - Payton Pritchard

A+ Grade

Talk about walking all over a draft. At 1, you get the consensus #1�duh�who needs no introduction. But you do this knowing you can select your next franchise C at #4 in Okongwu. And he�s the perfect fit with an offensive type PF of LMA or Randle, being the defensive stall wort. Next you grab the slight falling Isaac Okoro who perfectly replaces the outgoing Gordon Hayward (tough resign, or now maybe S&T) with a great defensive presence again.

Lastly, in the 2^nd round, you grab the PG that fell 12 spots from the NBA draft, the last 1^st rounder, who looks like a lock to be a reserve PG for a very long time. A certainty guy at 38? Nice.

 

 

The Future:

The future is looking good in OKC! They have some pieces to compete now, and they have a stable of youth, too. How much better does that get? Look for them to make the playoffs this year and only get better!

C: LaMarcus Aldridge / Onyeka Okongwu
PF: Lauri Markkanen / Julius Randle
SF: Caris LeVert / Isaac Okoro
SG: Anthony Edwards / Jeremy Lamb / Dewayne Bacon
PG: Devonte Graham / Shake Milton / Payton Pritchard